The Darkness Inside Me
by Jayden4U
Summary: Ryou has been living with the dark spirit of the Millenium Ring for a while now- that fact causing him to be suicidal. But what happens when they have to stick together when a madman comes after the both of them?YAOI in later chapters!
1. Chapter 1

_Just in case you readers get confused, "Ryou" is Bakura's good half. Or in other words, his "vessel" or "host, or whatever you call it. If that is incorrect, then I apologize. I hope you enjoy the story!_

**Ryou shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He could feel his millennium ring humming against his chest again, and he knew what that meant. The spirit was getting restless. He pressed his lips together, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest. He was trying very hard not to panic. He was in the middle of class! Surely the teacher and his friends would notice- especially Joey, seeing how suspicious of Ryou he was…. He took in a jagged breath, and sunk deeper into his mind, trying to find the spirit- Bakura. He closed his eyes.**

** 'Bakura?' he called, trying not to tremble. He was afraid of the spirit of this ring. Afraid of how demented and twisted he was… Bakura, the Tomb Thief…. **

** 'Yes?' Came an irritated voice. Ryou jumped, and then struggled to calm the beat of his heart. He looked around to try and spot where the spirit was, but he could see nothing. He gulped.**

** 'You're restless?'**

** 'Very. Why does it matter to you?'**

** 'I just….' Ryou held back a whimper. Then, out of the blue, an almost ear deafening, manic laugh pierced his ears. His heart jumped up into his chest then, and he found that he felt he lost his voice.**

** Then Bakura revealed himself, that sadistic smile largely plastered on his face. Ryou couldn't help the shudder of fear that rippled through him. His resolve of asking the spirit to wait to possess him again until later wavered, and all he wanted to do then was run away- run from his own body and never return.**

** 'You are afraid of me Ryou?' Bakura chuckled darkly, obviously enjoying Ryou's torment. Ryou didn't move. He didn't really want to give the evil spirit satisfaction, but then again, he was too scared to do anything anyways.**

** 'If it pleases you to think that.' Ryou finally whispered after a few minutes. Bakura's smile widened generously. He finally chuckled and closed his eyes. He felt a pang of guilt for making Ryou shake in his boots, but Ryou would get over it later. Bakura shrugged it off his shoulders, marking it as nothing.**

** 'There was something you needed? Make it quick- I don't need you wasting my time on nonsense.' Bakura snapped. Ryou nodded, some of his fear fading a little.**

** 'Yes… I just need you to…. you know, wait a while before taking me over again… please. I-'**

** 'Do you take me for a fool? A damned idiot? Just because I'm restless does not mean I am impatient enough for idiocy. Joey- he is suspicious is he not? If I were to make myself seen now, they would know that I've returned. That would be bad for the both of us. So stop bothering me with moronic questions and get back to this "school" you skip off to every day.' Bakura sneered. Ryou sighed mentally, nodding. He knew better than to try to argue and correct Bakura. That would definitely not end well. Besides, he would rather be a worry- some moron than a nuisance. **

**Ryou backed out of his mind just before the teacher called on him to answer a problem on the board. He wasn't worried- he knew the answer anyways. He recited it, making the teacher's eyes widen in surprise. Ryou smiled sweetly at her, making her glare at him in response.**

"**Please pay attention." Was all she said as she turned back around to the board, sighing. Ryou's smile slowly faded. He put his chin in his hand as his mind began to wander. He kept his mind strictly off the topic of Bakura, for the worry of irritating him. Instead he wondered about what he was going to do while Bakura was in control. Ryou had no choice in the matter of having the millennium ring and being possessed all the time, so it was no use trying to fight it anymore. This body was no longer his- or at least, **_**only**_** his. No matter what he tried to do with the millennium ring, it always found a way back to him. **

**The bell ringing snapped Ryou out of his depressing thoughts, and he forced a smile on his face. He stood with his book bag, shoving all the books on his desk into the bag, along with pencils and other school necessities. He slung the bag onto his back and started towards the door.**

"**Ryou!" Came a voice from behind him. He whipped around, startled, to find Joey, Tristan, Yugi, and Tea over by a desk, hovered over cards. Yugi seemingly was the one who called out to him. Ryou came slowly over to the desk, then shoved his hands in his pockets.**

"**Yes?" He asked hesitantly.**

"**Wanna play? We're playing duel monsters, and I figured since you liked to play the game and you have your own deck, that maybe you could play with us. I mean, if you're not busy." Yugi chimed, obviously excited. Ryou was a little shocked. Weren't they suspicious of him? Wary, even? Bakura mentally rolled his eyes.**

'**What?' Ryou asked the spirit, confused.**

"**Hey, are you alright?" Tea asked warily. Ryou shook his head and nodded, laughing nervously.**

"**Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. What makes you think I'm not?" He replied, smiling.**

"**It's just… you got this far away look in your eyes, and it looked as if- "**

"**Well, I'm fine. And I really can't - I have errands to run right now. Sorry I can't. But I'll see you tomorrow in class?" Ryou stammered as he backed away from the group.**

"**But-"Joey started.**

"**Sounds great- see you later!" Ryou shouted as he ran out the door, waving, down the hall, and into the school parking lot. He didn't stop until he was safely in his car and going down the street. Bakura appeared next to him, sitting in the seat next to him, with his arms crossed, looking quite irritated.**

"**You know, if you weren't my host, I would suffocate you for your immense stupidity." He growled, staring straight ahead. Ryou lowered his eyes.**

"**I know. I'm an idiot, a moronic shame of a person." Ryou spoke quietly, not wanting the verbal abuse right then. Bakura said nothing, surprised at Ryou's response.**

**The drive home was very quiet- neither of the two boys said a word, or even looked at each other. When they did reach Ryou's house, Bakura faded, going back inside Ryou's mind. Ryou didn't move, didn't think- just stared straight ahead, his hands on his lap. He was starting to feel depression prick at his insides again. Bakura pressed his lips together.**

'**Are you going to move somewhere, sometime soon, or am I going to have to make you move?' He growled impatiently. Ryou sighed and unbuckled his seat belt, opening up the car door and getting out. He walked up to his house, pulling out his keys and unlocking the door, and going inside. Ryou had a pretty decent size house- it being big enough for two. 'Two people… two spirits…' Ryou thought sadly.**

**Ryou let his bag fall off his shoulder onto the floor, forgotten, as he made his way to the kitchen, planning on eating before Bakura decided that he wanted to take over again. He opened the refrigerator and looked around for at least five minutes, then closed it and looked inside his cupboards and lazy susan. After a while of looking in there, he finally decided that he just wasn't in the mood to eat, and he went and lay down on the couch. It had been like this yesterday, too. He came home- hungry as all get out- letting his mind wander for a little while he hunted food down, and then out of the blue, he lost his appetite. Then he sat on his bed and did nothing- absolutely nothing- for at least a couple hours, until Bakura got sick and tired of Ryou and took over for the night.**

**Ryou did nothing. He said nothing. After a while, he curled up in a ball, hugging his knees as close to his chest as he could, and clamped his eyes shut, waiting. He hated the fact that he had to be out of control, but it had been this way for a while now- at least two years- so why did it matter to him now if Bakura did this or not? But… that was exactly it. It did matter. This was exactly the reason why he came home every day and felt sadness prick at his heart. Because Ryou wasn't Ryou anymore. He was Bakura. A bad guy. Someone who shouldn't be trusted. Someone who has killed... Ryou gulped, shuddering at the thought.**

'**Will you quit your annoying crying already? It's driving me insane!' Shouted a very irritated spirit. Only after his shout did Ryou realize that he was crying. He felt an urge to sit up and wipe his face, but…. he found that his body would not let him move anymore. He sniffed, embarrassed, but the emotion quickly faded and a sob escaped his throat. He clapped his hand over his mouth in shock, and then relaxed as he found he didn't want to fight his feelings anymore. His heart sank, seemingly to the floor- no, **_**through**_** the floor, right into the fiery pits of hell. Due to Bakura and his previous killings and overall actions, Ryou felt he didn't deserve to have a heart anymore- didn't deserve to think, to act, to smile…. He was robbed of that right, because inside of him was the sadistic spirit of the tomb thief, Bakura. **

**Ryou sniffed again, putting a small, not very tight lid on his emotions for right now. He felt a little bit- if even that- better. He took in a jagged breath, not moving or planning to move any time soon. Bakura said nothing, just sighed in irritation. It wasn't going to be too long now- Ryou could feel the ring humming again. **

**One day, he was going to end it. Be it soon or later, he would. Not even a week ago, he bought a gun at a sporting store, and he looked at it every day before he went to school, trying to gather up courage, while Bakura was slumbering inside him. He wanted so badly to make it all end; to be free of this curse, but the courage he always summed up in the morning left him as soon as he put his finger on the trigger, ready and willing to pull it. Every try ended in a sigh, and he would grab his bag and hurry off to school. The ring's hum became stronger all of a sudden, and it snapped Ryou out of his thoughts.**

**Ryou's eyes opened wide as he was being pulled into darkness. His vision slowly faded, and he panicked. He always did this when he was being possessed and forgot to close his eyes or to keep them shut. It always looked like he was dying, being possessed, and it felt like it too. He lost complete control of his body- still being able to feel everything Bakura felt, and see everything Bakura saw. Ryou saw things differently than Bakura saw them, as if he were looking into a mirror or a lake, but he still saw them, in dream- like quality. It was absolutely terrifying to him. He sighed shakily as he let the arms of darkness pull him inside all the way, further and further into his gut- wrenching nightmare. **


	2. Chapter 2

_**Sorry it took so long to get this on here! I will try to be more efficient when working on writings. :) Note: This is kind of a gory/ creepy chapter, so if you get sick to your stomach easy, don't read this! And also, I've decided that this story will have a later romance, so be sure to stick around! ;P **____

Ryou gasped jerkily as he felt his own soul resurfacing again. He rolled on his back, taking a minute to get used to being in control of his body. Then something hit him. This wasn't his room. He wasn't in his bed. He slowly sat up, looking around. The room was unfamiliar to him. It was cold, damp, and completely shrouded in darkness. 'This… could this be a dream?' He thought hopefully. Ryou took his hand, hesitated, then pinched himself. He winced as a small, sharp pain shot up his arm.

"No," he started to say, "this is definitely not a dream." Ryou couldn't ask the spirit, because he was sleeping right now, inside the millennium ring. He decided the best thing to do right now was just to find a way out of here. He went forward onto his hands and knees and started feeling around for anything that could help him get out.

Not long after he started searching the dirt ground with his hands, he found something. Curious, he continued to feel around the object, trying to figure out what it was. It felt like some sort of hairless animal in a bag made of cloth. It was cold, meaning that this animal was probably dead. Then he found what he thought was the face, and he froze. He felt the face again, and moved his hand north, now feeling a head full of hair. It wasn't an animal. It was a _human body_! 'Bakura-'Ryou choked in his mind as he stumbled backwards. He fell in the midst of all his panicking- straight into a puddle of wetness.

Ryou gasped, arching his back as horror filled him to his very core. He bit his lip as he jumped up and darted forward. Not a second later, he collided into a wall, knocking the breath from his lungs. He stumbled backwards from the impact, but the stunning feeling inside Ryou was short- lived as cold blooded fear thundered through his veins. He darted towards the wall again, now feeling along the wall for a window, a door, anything to get out of this hellish place. He finally found a light switch and a door a few minutes later. His heart jumped into his throat as he tried to pry the door open, all the while accidentally hitting the switch in his frenzy. He froze for a split second, and then almost as if his body was moving of its own accord, he turned to face the horror behind him.

He couldn't breathe when he saw the scene. Tears welled up in his eyes and his knees wobbled. There were three or four bodies in this room, all stained with blood, and knives, maces, needles- all bloody- and more unruly devices he could not identify. He fell to his knees, and at that precise moment, he wanted nothing more in the world than to die. God if he had only pulled the trigger this morning! His next exhale came out in a whoosh, and his eyes widened, his tears finally pouring down his face. Ryou came forward, burying his face in his arms and sobbing. The spirit stirred inside him, irritated. Anger exploded from within Ryou at the reminder of Bakura's presence.

"You bastard, Bakura! You _bastard_! Do you _not_ have a soul? A _heart_?' Ryou shouted shakily, breathless from his sobs. Bakura growled.

'And you think I care…. Why?' Bakura asked, angry that Ryou had shouted. Ryou sobbed again.

'Oh, Gods- will you _please_ shut up! I swear you are the most annoying person I've ever had to deal with! Why don't you be smart for once and get the hell out of there!' Bakura shouted.

"Why should I listen to you? A murderer! You killed all these people and-"

'You really are an idiot aren't you! Stop your moronic sobbing and sniffling and look at your _clothes_!' Bakura spat, livid now. Ryou sniffed and glance down. He gasped, now feeling around to see if he was hurt anywhere. There were multiple tears in his clothing, and all around the tears were surrounded by masses of blood that were so big it scared him. He winced, hissing at the pain that shot through him. Yep. He was definitely hurt. A lot. As his anger and earlier panic faded away, he found that more and more of his body started to throb with pain, and this was fatiguing him as well as worrying him.

'What… what _happened_?' Ryou asked the spirit.

'I was attacked. What does it look like?' Bakura snapped.

'By who?'

'How the bloody hell should I know? I was attacked and almost tortured, but the guy chuckled and left before he could do a lot.'

'But… that doesn't make any sense. Why would someone attack you that didn't even know you?'

'I say again, how, the bloody hell, should I know?'

'There's something you aren't telling me.'

Bakura said nothing. He _was_ hiding something. Bakura was hiding the fact that he had run into this man before… Back when Bakura had absolutely no restraint, and part of his mind was still trapped in the Shadow Realm, he ran into this man. The man had crossed a line with disrespect, and something the man did back then made something inside Bakura snap, although he couldn't recollect what. In the end, the man lay almost dead at Bakura's feet, and he turned on his heel and walked away.

'Bakura-'Ryou started.

"Ahh… so you're still alive after all, Bakura." Came a voice from behind him. Ryou whipped around, frightened, to find a man standing in the doorway. Ryou gasped, backing up.

'Bakura!' Ryou called. He was scared to his very core, and he didn't know what else to do other than go running to Bakura. Ryou felt strange, running to him after hating him for so long, but he had no other option.

'Ryou…' Bakura's voice hummed in Ryou's head. Ryou was swept up in the intensity of Bakura's voice for a second, right before he was pulled into darkness again. What was that all about? For a moment, just a mere moment, Ryou actually felt cared about by Bakura. Then it was quickly replaced with embarrassment and feeling like a moron. Because Bakura didn't care about anyone but himself. Right?

Bakura felt strange. Ryou's voice…. He was so desperate, and scared…. Why did this effect him so? Why should he care if Ryou sniffled and cowered in the corner? It's what he's always done. But…. Why did it matter to him now? Bakura took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He glared at the man. The man smiled.

"So you left for a while?" The man asked, taking a step forward.

"You did as well?" Bakura mirrored, holding his ground. The man laughed.

"I had business. Besides, you were out cold anyways. So…" He eyed Bakura with a sadistic glint in his eye. "Where were we?" He thought for a moment as he looked around the room, then spotting a peculiar device that had a handle that connected to a chain that at the tip of it was a blade- an _unused_ blade, much to Bakura's surprise. "Oh yes," The man said as he gripped the handle. "Here!" he shouted as he sent the blade flying toward Bakura like a whip. Bakura dodged it in the nick of time, but the man yanked it to the side before it retracted, making the blade hit Bakura's arm. He hissed loudly as he felt the blade yank back toward the man, making it dig deeper into his arm. Then the man yanked the blade back, out of Bakura's arm, making Bakura yell from the immense pain flooding the area. The man laughed again.

"Had enough? Hmm. I must say, I'm quite disappointed. I mean, after what you did to _me_, I assumed you would have more stamina. After all, you tortured me for _three days straight_!" Then man laughed manically. Ryou gasped and Bakura's eyes widened. It made perfect sense now, why he did all this. The man was insane. Clutching his now blood- soaked arm, Bakura stood, facing the strange man.

"That…" Bakura started, "that was almost a _year_ ago. And also, _you're_ preaching to _me_ about stamina? Hmph. Hit me again and we'll see just how energy deprived I am." The man was taken aback by this, as well as Ryou, but the man quickly recovered and chuckled.

"Yes," the man replied darkly, "we'll definitely see." He sent the chain flying toward Bakura again, smiling darkly. Bakura slid out of the blade's way again, the blade barely missing his neck this time, and just as it came back to hit him in the chest, he grabbed it, jerking it out of a very surprised man's hands. The blade cut his hands when Bakura took it, making him wince.

Fear pierced the Man's features for a split second, right before he bolted to get a new weapon. Bakura tensed to swing the weapon, wound back, and-

'Bakura wait!' Ryou shouted. Bakura froze. Anger started to bubble inside him, but before he could react, Ryou shouted, 'Please don't do this! The door- go to the door! Escape this! Don't kill unnecessarily!'

'Unnecessarily? Are you bloody nuts?'

'Bakura…. please.' Ryou pleaded. Bakura was again taken aback by Ryou's voice. For the first time in Bakura's entire existence, he was unsure of what to do. And to tell the truth, he hated it. 'Damnit, Ryou!' He exclaimed in his head as he whirled around, now going for the door. He was about an inch from the handle before he felt a very sharp pain in his back, followed by a burning sensation. He was being poisoned. Bakura gasped, stumbling forward, fumbling with the door handle.

"You cannot run from me Bakura…. Face your fate and die!" The man shouted. He pulled out a dripping knife- coated with more of the burning liquid, and laughed manically as he came at Bakura. Bakura's back went out just as the man charged him, making the man trip and smash his head into the steel door with a crack. Now he lay limp on the floor, unconscious.

Bakura didn't move, Ryou's body now failing him. 'That was a nice plan of yours…. If you wouldn't have stopped me, he would be dead instead of us….' Bakura murmured in Ryou's head. Ryou stared worriedly at Bakura, now sitting outside of his mind. Bakura looked warily up at Ryou, pressing his lips together. Ryou had never seen Bakura so vulnerable before, and he was at a total loss of words.

'Bakura…. I'm…. so sorry…' Ryou took in a breath, now determined. 'Let me back in.'

'What?' Bakura was taken aback again. What made Ryou think that he would be able to get up any better than he could?

'Please. Trust me. Release me.' Ryou pleaded. Bakura ground his teeth together. He didn't need Ryou's help to get out of here. He slowly got up to his hands and knees, then to his feet, and reached for the door.

'Bakura!'

Bakura gasped as his vision slowly started to blur and darken. He was dying. Ryou was dying. 'No,' He growled in his head as he turned the door knob. His limbs started to shake with the energy he was putting into getting the heavy door open. In his weakened state, he would have been surprised if he could lift up his arm at all, since he had used a lot of energy he didn't have just to stand up, let alone push open a huge iron door. Bakura ground his teeth together and shoved with all his might, praying it would be enough. His vision finally was jarred enough that he couldn't see anything except white, and his limbs were going numb.

'Oh, Gods- Bakura!' Ryou gasped, startled by Bakura's marred sight and weakness. He started to tremble, and Bakura's determination flared. With a final push and the rest of his strength, he shoved the door open, and yelled, hoping someone heard him. Light shined into their eyes, and it blinded them.

"See? Told…. Told you I could do it…." Bakura murmured with a smile before his eyes rolled in the back of his head and he fell forward.

'Bakura!' Was the last thing he heard before everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_This chapter is kinda short, and I apologize for that, but I didn't know what else to add to this chapter. =/_

* * *

Bakura was floating in darkness. He couldn't see anything. But he could hear. And what he did hear was screaming. Not just any screaming though- it was Ryou. Bakura took in a sharp breath as each of his screams seemed to pierce not only his ears, but his heart and soul.

He tried to move, to try and get to Ryou, but he found that as much as he flailed his arms and legs, he could not move. Gods, _where were they_?

Ryou continued to scream, and the more Bakura heard them, the clearer it became what Ryou was screaming. Bakura's eyes widened. Ryou was screaming Bakura's _name_. Why though? After how scared he was of Bakura, why was Ryou calling to him for help?

"Ryou!" Bakura called. The screaming stopped. Nothing was said for a very long time. "Ryou?" Nothing. Was it just his imagination? Or, maybe this place was playing tricks with his mind. Bakura sighed and tried to relax. Wherever he was, it didn't look like he was getting out anytime soon, so why not take it easy? He closed his eyes. As soon as he did though, a bright light seemingly turned on in front of him, and he heard many voices all at once, saying things he couldn't comprehend. He caught bits and pieces, but nothing too important.

The light got brighter, and he opened his eyes- just in time to feel himself get flung towards the light. His eyes almost bulged out of his head, and he tensed, readying himself to be hit.

The closer he got to the light, the louder the voices became, and he wince. What the hell _was_ this! He slowed right before the light, and it brightened tremendously. He gasped, shielding his eyes. After a few minutes, the light died down, and Bakura was finally able to see. He looked ahead at where the light was coming from and he gasped, astonished. It was the mirror! The pool in which he saw everything that Ryou saw! But did that mean…. Where they… alive still? But how?

He turned back to the pool, and for the first time in a very, _very_ long time, Bakura smiled a half smile.

'Ryou!' The word echoed through his mind. Ryou… someone was calling him? But who? The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't put a name to the voice.

'Ryou?' The voice came again, uncertain now. Ugh. His head hurt now. He turned his head to the side, furrowing his eyebrows. He heard several gasps all around him, followed by hurried footsteps seemingly toward him. Ryou was confused. Where was he?

"Ryou? You awake?" Came a feminine voice. Was that… Tea? But… he was _dead_, right? Did that mean.. was Tea dead too? Oh no! Tea wasn't-

"Hey, c'mon man wake up! You can do it- just open your eyes! …. Please? We don't want to be here all night!" Joey? *SMACK!*

"Joey! Be nice! He might go into a coma! We need to be supportive!" Tea again. 'A coma?' Thought Ryou. 'But…. I'm dead. How- wait. Am I dead?' Ryou forced his eyes open a crack, blinked, then opened them the rest of the way.

"Ryou! Are you okay? How do you feel?" Tea fussed, dashing to his side.

"I'm not… dead? But how? I thought…" Ryou rambled, confused.

"Joey found you." Tea explained. Joey? Joey turned a shade of pink.

"Yeah… I was takin' a walk through the woods ya know, and I heard a yell, so I decided to go check it out, and I found ya lying there, bleedin' everywhere. So I brought ya here." Joey explained sheepishly, kicking around imaginary dust. Ryou slowly sat up, afterwards looking down at his hands.

"Thank you Joey." Ryou murmured. Joey was taken aback by this. "I mean, I know you may not like me and all, but…. I really am grateful that you decided to take me here." Joey smiled that big, cheesy frin of his, the blush on his face darkening slightly.

"Don't mention it, bud. Just… promise me somethin', will ya?" Ryou perked up at Joey's words.

"Yes of course."

"Don't do anything… ya know, _crazy_, or… what _I_ wouldn't do." There was a cold, dark edge to Joey's voice then, and Ryou knew exactly what Joey meant, and that was '_Don't be going all crazy and psychopathic on us, Bakura._" This didn't faze Ryou. He just nodded.

"I won't." He replied. Joey nodded. Everyone else was touched by the little exchange between the two men, obviously unknowing of Joey's hidden message. Ryou finally, after a few minutes, looked away from Joey's suspicious glare and took a minute to look over his body.

"Um…" He mouthed as he did so.

"They had to give you stitches…. It wasn't very pretty." Yugi said in a low voice. He had just stepped in the room, one arm stuffed with what looked like paperwork.

"And bandage you up…." Tea added, worrying her bottom lip.

"Yeah- this is for you." Yugi placed the stack of papers lightly on Ryou's lap, being careful not to hurt him. Ryou stared wide- eyed at the stack of papers, then at Yugi. He smiled nervously.

"They wouldn't let me fill it out- otherwise I would have done it." Yugi explained, clasping his hands together in front of him. Ryou looked back down at the stack of papers and sighed, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead.

"I need a pen, and some Ibuprofen, please."

* * *

It took a while, but Ryou sorted through all of the papers and signed, dated, and wrote all his information down on everything he was required to , and a little while after that, Tea had cheerleading, Yugi had a tournament to return to, and Joey had a date with Mai Valentine. So Ryou was alone. Setting the pen and papers down on the nightstand beside the hospital bed, he laid back against the newly fluffed pillows and closed his eyes.

'Ryou?' Came a voice from the back of his mind. Ryou's eyes snapped open, the voice having startled him.

'Bakura?'

'Yes. Is everything…?'

'I _think_ so… I had to get stitches…' Ryou explained, looking down at his body. Bakura snorted. 'What?'

'Did they find the man that did all this?' Bakura asked, a disapproving tone to his voice.

'Uhh…. I don't really know. Nothing was really said about him….' Bakura sighed in irritation at Ryou's words.

'You just _had_ to make me hesitate, didn't you? You _had_ to cause us to almost get killed, didn't you!' Bakura ranted, angry now. Ryou said nothing, just looked down in shame. 'I could have ended this Ryou! I could've made it so that man wasn't going to come after us again! But no, of course you-'

'I did it for you!' Ryou screamed. Bakura was taken aback by this.

'How?... why?' Bakura spat.

'Because… I didn't want everything to go to hell the way it did before! I don't want you to lapse back to being a killer!' Tears welled up in Ryou's eyes as he shouted. Bakura said nothing as Ryou appeared before him in their mind. 'Do you even realize what that put me through? Those were _my_ hands you used to kill, Bakura- _mine_!' Tears ran freely down his face now, and in his mind, he collapsed to his knees. Bakura stood motionless, watching Ryou cry. He was at a loss of what to do. He felt this gut- retching guilt inside him then, and it felt like very highly concentrated acid was eating up his heart from the inside out. He sighed.

'Ryou…. You're being silly…'

'Am I?' Ryou looked up at him then, all the pain and intense sorrow practically pouring out of his eyes. "If you were in my place and were forced to kill, you'd feel awful too wouldn't you!"

Again, silence, nothing came from Bakura. Ryou pulled out of his mind then, opened his eyes and just sat there in the hospital bed, trying to push everything that just happened out of his mind. That was the first time he had ever truly lost his temper and screamed at Bakura. But to tell the truth, it felt good to get it off his chest even though it had hurt to do so. To finally let him know what he was thinking and making _him_ be the one left speechless instead of Ryou for once.


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, okay. I know it's been forever since I've updated this story, and I sincerely apologize. What had happened was two of my computers crashed, and one of them had my stories on it, and the other I used to publish on here, since it was the only one that had internet. I lost everything, and I had to look everywhere to find my hand written copies of these stories (thank god I get impatient and handwrite things) and when I found them and got the computers working again (which was like two days ago) I worked like crazy to get these up. So I'm really reaaaaally sorry for the wait, but here it is, and I hope you enjoy! Please read and **review**! _:D

* * *

It had been silent in Ryou's head for quite some time. Ryou had been out of the hospital for about a week now, and was taking it easy. Bakura rarely said anything, and didn't possess Ryou at all. Ryou had begun to wonder if he was even still there, but once in a while, Bakura would think about things, and this reassured him, Ryou of course being able to decipher what Bakura's thoughts were.

One night, when Ryou was sitting down on the couch with a book, Bakura started to ponder things again- the things that Ryou had screamed at him, and then Ryou felt Bakura's emotion in reaction to his thoughts. Hate, sadness, regret- somewhere around there. Ryou was surprised. Was Bakura okay? Ryou pressed his lips together. Should Ryou even care if Bakura was okay, given what Bakura had done in the past to Ryou- to people in general? For the first time in a while, Bakura spoke.

'I regret a lot of things I've done in my past. One of them is killing and torturing all those people… You question my possession of a heart and soul- but do you honestly have any idea of my inner turmoil? No, you don't. So don't be pointing any fingers at me unless you've seen what's underneath…' Bakura ranted, angry, as he appeared in a ghost like form in front of Ryou.

"Bakura-" Ryou started.

'Oh, let it alone, Ryou. None of it matters anyway.' Bakura stated, turning away from him. Ryou jumped up from the couch, throwing the book to the side, and came over to Bakura.

"Yeah, it does." He murmured, sympathy thick in his eyes. Bakura gave him a look that would melt iron.

'Why? Why does _any_ of this matter? It _doesn't_!'

"It matters to you. And… it matters to me." Bakura was taken aback by Ryou's words. He cleared his throat.

'Well, it shouldn't.'

"Well, it does. So deal with it." Ryou snapped, stubborn now. Ryou wasn't going to be scared of Bakura anymore. He was tired of cowering before him and being scared that Bakura was going to do something to him because obviously, he wasn't. Bakura was silent then as he looked down at the ground. After a minute, he looked back up, a question in his eyes.

'Ryou… why? Why do you care so much?' Bakura's question baffled Ryou for a minute. Why _did_ he care so much? Not even two weeks ago he honestly could have said he hated Bakura, but now… everything seemed to be totally upside down… Wait- what was so bad about this? So Ryou cared about him. Big whup. Hate was never a popular emotion in Ryou's book anyways, so why not?

"Because you've changed. And I would prefer if you would stay like this…." Ryou stated, crossing his arms. Bakura blinked for a little bit, dumbstruck. His heart was beating strangely now- sometimes skipping beats, and sometimes speeding up, making his cheeks flush over and over. Why was his heart stuttering so much? And… there were so many things Bakura wanted to say to Ryou, but couldn't, because he couldn't find his voice.

'Well, I don't need- I don't want….' Bakura managed to get out.

"Oh, stop it will you?" Ryou sighed, a softness to his voice that made Bakura's limbs quiver with irritation at himself. He wanted so badly just to rip his heart out, throw it on the ground and stomp and stomp and stomp until he couldn't feel anything anymore.

'Stop what Ryou?' Bakura asked. Ryou's eyes widened the tiniest bit at Bakura's voice. Shaky. Bakura himself was shaky… why? Ryou stared at Bakura for a few minutes, confused, then a conclusion popped in his head.

Bakura didn't want to feel. Ryou kind of understood why- after so many years of _not_ feeling anything except hate, misery, anger, or maybe a combination of the three- of course it would be torture to now be feeling something else. But the question was- what exactly _was_ he feeling?

"Stop holding it in- let it out." Ryou suggested. Bakura just gave him an irritated look. His face was flushed again, his cheeks and and across the top of his nose a light pink and turning darker. He looked like he was struggling with breathing.

'Stop holding _what_ in?'

"Your _emotions_!" Ryou barked. Everything happened very quickly then. Bakura's expression darkened for a moment, then he was walking toward Ryou, and for the first time that day, Ryou was scared of Bakura's intentions, and wondered if putting his foot down was such a good idea after all. But instead of hurting Ryou at all, Bakura grabbed a fist full of his hair, and kissed him. Both of them were startled by this maneuver, and both of their eyes were wide open- staring at each other. But slowly, Ryou closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss. Bakura, after a few minutes, rolled his eyes in the back of his head and leaned in as well. They continued to war over each other's mouths for a few minutes, then stopped to catch their breath. Ryou fell against the couch, and Bakura sat down on the other side of it.

"Wow…" Ryou murmured, breathless.

'You wanted emotion….' Bakura panted, his voice husky.

"Yeah… I must admit though, I had no idea you-"

'Neither did I.' Bakura interrupted. There was a long, drawn out silence then. Ryou would glance at Bakura every few minutes, watching him stare off into the empty space in front of them with glazed over eyes. Finally, Bakura broke the agonizing break in conversation. 'You know… I'm not gay.' Ryou looked down at his own lap for a minute, lost in thought. After a bit, he slowly brought his gaze up to meet Bakura's.

"I know…. Me neither."

Then it was silent again. Ryou sat there, pondering why Bakura would kiss him. He thought that he meant nothing to Bakura, so was it all an act, or something else? Well Ryou wanted emotion, and he certainly got it, just, not the emotion he was expecting. Ryou looked over at Bakura, who was still staring off into space, a never leaving stoic expression there.

"Bakura?" Ryou said finally breaking the silence. Bakura said nothing, just sighed, waiting for the inevitable.

"Why did you kiss me?" Ryou asked.

Bakura remained silent, and continued to stare at the wall in front of them as if Ryou hadn't said anything.

"I don't know." Bakura stated gruffly, his eyes averted now to the direction opposite of Ryou. Ryou cocked his head a little to the side, now confused.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know, Ryou."

"So you kissed me for no reason whatsoever. People don't just do things and not have a reason for doing it Bakura." Ryou's eyes furrowed in frustration.

"I don't know why I kissed you! I _do_ know that it was stupid and I should never have done it, because now you have this delusion in your head that I want something out of this, and I _don't_. You get all mushy gushy with me, well, I'm sorry I don't care the way you do. So I don't freaking know why I kissed you. Let. It. Go." Bakura stared Ryou down from the other end of the couch to further emphasize the fact that he did _not_ want to continue this conversation and jerked his head the other way when he was done with his rant. He didn't like this. Not one bit. His head was all funny and spinning out of control, and he wasn't one to like not being in control. His heart was thundering in his chest and his gut was clenching every five seconds because of his member threatening to harden at any moment because of his previous excitement. 'Excitement. Gah.' Bakura thought to himself with disgust thick in his mental voice.

"So I still mean nothing to you. After everything, after all the forgiveness, all the hate being pushed _aside_… you still don't…." Ryou said in disbelief.

Bakura didn't answer him. Every fiber of his being was aching to deny it, for reasons he didn't even want to _begin_ to delve into. He wanted to grab Ryou's face and kiss him again and again and again until Bakura was totally sure Ryou would never doubt his intentions again, but his heart clenched, almost like it was trying to get away from the thought, and his throat closed, making it hard to even breathe, let alone talk.

"Will you stop toying with me? If I don't mean anything to you then why the hell did you just kiss me?" Ryou yelled, tears brimming in his eyes.

Bakura closed his eyes, unable to look at Ryou anymore.

"Answer me!" Ryou yelled again.

'Leave it alone Ryou.'

Ryou was choking back anger now. Whenever he got even a tiny bit close to Bakura, he would freak out and use the good old 'Leave it alone, Ryou.' He was sick and tired of being pushed away when all he really wanted was to be close. They kissed, and Ryou wasn't about to let this slide by.

Gritting his teeth in feral anger, he quickly crawled over to the other side of the couch and grabbing Bakura by the chin and yanking his head toward himself, kissed him.

Ryou was not gentle with his invasion. Bakura's eyes widened in surprise of this hidden side of Ryou, and he sat there, dumbstruck, as he ravaged Bakura's mouth.

When Ryou's anger finally evaporated, he sat back, his eyes closed. Bakura's mouth was slightly open, his eyes still widened in shock. He reached up and touched his now swollen lips, and winced when he touched a place where Ryou "nipped" too hard. After a while, Ryou finally opened his eyes again, and he met Bakura's wide eyes. He looked down in embarrassment for his loss of control.

"Look, Bakura-"

"Don't." Bakura replied, regaining his composure and waving Ryou's comment off. Ryou's eye's furrowed.

"But-" He was cut off by Bakura's hand slapping over his mouth, his eyes now wide and looking around. Ryou tensed, wondering what Bakura was alarmed about.

"Bakur-"

"Shut up will you? I hear something..." Bakura whispered, lowering to the floor.

As if on cue, the sound of a window busting ripped through the air, and Bakura practically threw Ryou on the floor, and when he tried to get up, his body went numb, and Bakura took over. For some unknown reason, this time wasn't as scary as all the others. He felt a slight light headed feeling, and there was a second long black out, but that was all. Ryou blinked in amazement, and Bakura stood up in Ryou's body. Ryou went to get up, and Bakura glared at him, motioning him to stay down. Ryou did as he was asked, his eyes huge with fear.

Bakura went into the kitchen, but before he did, Ryou swore he saw something along the lines of sympathy in his eyes. Ryou crushed his hopes and reminded himself that Bakura didn't care at all whether or not he made it out of this alive or not, just as long as he got the body in the end.

The thought brought tears to Ryou's eyes, but he refused to let himself cry. What was the point? Nothing about any of this mattered anyhow.

Ryou sighed, and then tensed when he heard a noise.

"You know, you're quite noisy, you little runt." Ryou let out a squeak as he looked to the side of him, seeing a robed man with completely white eyes. The man held up something that had the same symbol as his necklace, except on a staff, and he was blinded by a white light. Straight afterwards, he had the sensation of being dragged off the floor, then dropped, except, he never managed to hit a floor. It wasn't until he gained his eyesight back that Ryou finally realized that whatever was held in front of him sucked him in, and he was completely alone, and for the first time in years, without Bakura.


	5. Chapter 5

Bakura stopped in his tracks in the kitchen. He was alone. He felt Ryou's presence disappear, and his heart sped to the point of him losing his breath. Ryou was gone.

Wait- Ryou was _gone_. This is what Bakura _wanted_, right? His mind struggled for an answer, but he didn't have much time to argue within himself. He felt a presence in the dark room, and he knew he wasn't alone. He whipped around, searching for a body to strangle, with a rage he just didn't understand.

"Come on out- stop hiding like a coward _Marik_!" He snarled the name. And, lo and behold, out of the shadows shifted the very man he had come in contact with before that had almost killed the both of them- Marik Ishtar. Bakura's dark expression deepened. A grin twisted its way through Marik's face as his name was mentioned.

"What do you want?" Bakura snarled, trying to keep the quiver out of his voice that he sure as hell felt shake him to his core. Marik laughed- a wretched, horrible sound.

"What would I want? _You dead._" He smiled, Bakura clenched his teeth. "I took him from you... so you two can't soul- switch and escape... Also, as I now know you two are lovers-"

"We are _NOTHING _of the sort!" It was childish of him to say- _exclaim_ more like- but he just couldn't help it. He was seconds away from just running and leaving Ryou to his fate, whatever that was, and yet, he was seconds from throwing himself at Marik's feet and pleading Ryou's safety. Both, however, made him shudder in disgust. He closed his eyes in anger.

Oh, what the hell was he _thinking_? He couldn't leave! No matter how much he wanted his own body, he didn't want _any_ of it if it meant he had to doom Ryou to whatever fate was awaiting him. His eyes snapped open, intense determination now aflame in them.

"Where's Ryou?" He demanded, the dark look returning in his eyes. Marik laughed again, this time an insane look in his eye. Immediately he stopped, and within seconds, he was in front of Bakura's face. Something glinted in the moonlight pouring in from the window out of the corner of his eye, and within a split second, Bakura dodged a stab from an ancient gravekeeper looking dagger. He recoiled, taking Marik's hand and slamming it against the counter, knocking the dagger out of his hand with a startled grunt.

Bakura shoved Marik back with both hands, gritting his teeth as he did so, making Marik slam against the counter/ refrigerator behind him, rattling both. After he regained his wits, Marik burst out in manic laughter. Bakura raised an eybrow, gritting his teeth harder.

"You're fucking insane." Bakura snarled, tensing to hit the fool again.

"No, I think you've got it reversed. What makes you think, that if you hit me enough, that I'm going to just hand over Ryou to you?" He snorted, still chuckling. He wiped a spot of blood off his hands, from a cut from the knife earlier. Bakura's eyes softened the tiniest bit, then hardened again.

"Me dead isn't the only thing you came here for." Bakura stated matter- of- factly, a deadly stare clouding his features. Marik smiled sadisticly.

"No, it's not. I want…" He pointed to Bakura's shirt. "that Millenium Ring you have." His eyebrows furrowed at this. As Bakura saw it, he had two choices- either submit to Marik and save Ryou, quite possibly getting tortured as well, or fight and lose Ryou to the Millenium Rod. Either way, he would never see Ryou again.

This realization hit him like a ton of bricks, and Bakura found that he could barely stand. What the hell had happened to him?

Ryou happened, that's what. Ryou got to Bakura, made him soft. But..- no. He had to do this. It was good for everyone. Maybe… maybe in a few centuries, he would be able to overcome Marik and his torture, and get out of that hellhole.

And Ryou… Ryou could move on. He could find someone that would be so much better for him than a former demon of torture and demented-ness. Someone that could treat him with as much kindness and softness as he deserved- none of the qualities in which Bakura would ever have.

"Fine. Have this trinket if you will. But- you must heed to my conditions first."

"And what makes you think I'll-"

"Because if you don't, I'll destroy it."

"Fool! You can't possibly-"

"I can and will, regardless of what it will do to my life." Bakura snarled, clenching where the Ring rested just beneath his shirt. Marik was silent for a long time, seemingly at a loss of words. "Release Ryou, and I will give you what you want."

"How do I know that you won't run off with him along with the Ring once I release him?"

"It would be no use in running- you and I both know you have this place surrounded with your grunts." Bakura snapped, tired of Marik's stupidity.

"Very well. It shall be."

"Marik, if I find out that you go back on your word…. There WILL be hell to pay- I will make that fact certain." Bakura threatened, a definate menacing tone to his voice. Marik said nothing, just took out his Rod, and almost as soon as he did, a glow began to radiate from the eye of the Rod, and sure enough, Ryou began to re- form in front of Bakura's very eyes. As Ryou began to solidify from his ghost like form, Bakura became a spirit once more.

When Ryou became completely solidified, his eyes snapped open, and he frantically searched the room, and as he became aware of Marik, he became scared, and then he caught sight of Bakura. Relief washed over him as he scrambled over to his feet.

Just as he was about to reach Bakura, he took a step back. Ryou was extremely confused, and looked up to his face, a question in his eyes. Then he saw the expression on Bakura's face. There was a certain shadow that crossed over his face- a very dark one. Bakura's head was up straight, but his eyes were staring straight at him, the moonlight hitting them at just the right angle to make his stare even more menacing.

"B- Bakura… I-"

It wasn't that Bakura spoke to cut him off. It wasn't even any noise that he made that made Ryou stop. Bakura had looked up at Marik, and walked past him, ignoring him completely. He wished that Bakura _had_ spoken- wished he _had_ growled at him, grunted, snorted, _anything_! But he didn't. He walked away- right past Ryou like he was nothing.

"Let's go, Bakura."

At Marik's words, everything clicked. Bakura was leaving him. He was leaving, and he was never going to see him again- because he knew Marik's intentions. He shouted them at Ryou as he laughed manically, trying to torture him. He didn't believe that Bakura would actually go with him so easily though. As a sudden determination welled up in his chest, and he jumped to his feet, lunging at Bakura and grabbing his clothes to keep him in place.

"You don't get to do this! You don't get to walk out on me! What happened? I thought- I thought…!" Ryou was sobbing now, because he just couldn't wrap his head around what had just happened. What seemed like only a moment ago, they were on that couch, feelings coming undone, and now…. It was like Bakura felt nothing for him again. But the question was, was it a hoax again?

Bakura said nothing, just shrugged Ryou off him and continued forward to Marik. He tried one last time to hold on to him, but Marik had grabbed on to the Ring, and Bakura had disappeared into it. Ryou toppled to the ground at Marik's feet, losing his balance due to all his force going forward. Bakura was gone.

"Do you really think he loved you?" Marik laughed. Ryou looked up at him, tears in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but Marik wasn't done. "He couldn't stand you. He sought _me_ out to put the poor boy out of his misery!"

"That- that isn't true!" Ryou snapped, his eyes filling with anger.

"Why did he leave then?"

"I…."

"Because he arranged the whole damn thing." Marik smiled, crossing his arms. "God do you look pathetic. No wonder he did it."

"He.. he wouldn't-" Ryou blabbed, his eyes huge.

"Think what you want. I know the truth- he came willingly enough. I however don't have time to sit here and preach to you when you are too much of a fool to realize the facts." At this, Marik turned and left the house, leaving Ryou alone.

He sat there, on the floor for a long time, thinking about what just happened. Would Bakura really do something like that? Especially after everything they shared? Ryou's eyes widened.

Maybe he really would. He remembered how offended he got and how defensive he got… but… why did he respond to everything then? How could he have pretended to love Ryou, then just walk away? That was just so... cold. But, Bakura was a spirit- did they even have morals? And to add on to that list, he was a prior tomb thief. No, he didn't have morals. How could Ryou have been so stupid to fall for all that? To fall for _him_?

Ryou exhaled, and let himself drop fully on the floor, his emotions running laps in his head. He made up his mind. He was going to get that gun, and he wasn't going to be scared this time.

With a huff of air, he stood and made his way to the drawer where he kept the gun. He pulled it out, and without hesitation, he pressed it to his temple. He took his final breaths, and held one as he prepared himself for the coming of his death.

He pulled the trigger, and he felt pain, then everything went black.

* * *

_*To Be Continued...*_


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry it took so long! Not gonna explain... well, maybe a little. Tough times =/  
Anywho~ I worked on this one all night for you :)  
I know it's not much, but at least it's something to put your worried minds at bay! :D  
So, without further adue, here be the 6th chapter!

* * *

Ryou was confused.

Wasn't he supposed to be in some otherworldly place? Don't get him wrong, the place he was in certainly wasn't lacking any oddness, but…. It just didn't seem like he was in heaven or hell. Sure, he walked amongst the clouds, but… he was looking at Tokyo. But… upside down. He stood on the bottom of a cloud, and as he looked up, there was Tokyo, just, as mentioned, upside down. He half expected to fall upward at some point, and that wierded him out. Or… fall _down_, more like….

Cars whizzed by, people running to catch cabs, and others walking and laughing with friends. It was making him dizzy. He turned his attention from the world above and looked around him, looking for someone to explain to him just what the hell was going on.

But, that was the odd thing. There was no one. He took a step forward, looking around some more. He started walking forward, determined now. He surely couldn't be the only one here…. Could he?

He wandered, seemingly for hours (did time even matter here?) and found no one, still. He stoped then, looking in every direction, thouroughly frustrated now. Where was everyone? But, a better question remained- where was _he_?

"Hello?" He called, a slight tremor in his voice. "Is anyone here?" His voice echoed, seemingly forever. Nothing. A surge of anger flooded him, and he clenched his fists.

"Where am I!" He screamed, trembling now. Seemingly as soon as the echo of his voice died down, the plane he was in shook fiercely, making Ryou fall to his hands and knees. Ryou gasped, fear quickly rushing in to replace the sharp spike of anger.

"RYOU…" A voice came from the very ground he trembled upon. Ryou tried to say something- anything, but all that came out was a terrified squeak. "IT IS NOT YOUR TIME YET…. RETURN FROM WHENCE YOU CAME…." Ryou perked up at this. Not his time? But he…. He killed himself… didn't he? How could it NOT be his time? If it wasn't his time, why would he be here in the first place? "IT IS NOT YOUR PLACE TO DECIDE WHEN YOU DIE- DO NOT MAKE THE SAME ARROGANT DECISION TWICE." And with that, the plane stopped trembling, and Ryou started to feel lighter, somehow.

That's when he fell. He tried with wild abandon to grab on to the cloud he was on, but all to no avail. He shrieked in fear as he fell toward Tokyo, his world turning upright. He expected to hit the ground, or at least to return to where he was previously, but instead, he fell into darkness. Yet another thing he didn't expect. He winced, readying himself for the impact when he felt air rush up toward his face.

He hit the ground with a loud thud and a bounce, the force of it all knocking the air out of him. He lay there for a few minutes, trying to breathe calmly and get his brain to work again. He slowly rolled over and groaned, attempting to sit up. He rubbed his head, trying to keep the inevitable headache he was sure to get at bay. With a sigh, he stood, taking in his surroundings yet again. He was sure getting tired of not knowing anything about anything.

Ryou's eyebrows furrowed. There was something about this place that seemed familiar… too familiar. Even though it only looked like darkness that stretched for miles, he felt oddly comforted by familiarity. But, even if he was in a place that he'd been to before, there were several questions that he needed answered, and in order to answer those questions, he needed to find somebody. Gods, was he even _alive_?

He took in a breath and slowly let it out. Some day he was having. And then it all came back to him. The reason why he'd shot himself in the first place- Bakura. Ryou straightened up as pain seared through him. _Bakura…_ Ryou touched his chest, right over his heart, trying not to cry. _No wonder_, he thought bitterly,_ I'd do it again in a heartbeat._

Ryou abruptly shook his head. He had better things to do than sitting here and crying like a baby. It was done, and there was nothing he could do now. For all he knew, Ryou wasn't even _alive._ What he needed right now was answers, and he was going to get them, one way or another. He turned around, determined to hurt someone if he had to, when someone in front of him made him stop.

The person was shrouded in darkness, so it was hard to make out who, or what, the person was. Ryou cocked his head to the side, then hesitantly took a step forward. He sucked in a breath, and after counting down from three, made himself say something.

"H- hey.. Hello?" He blurted, shaking a little. Where did his determination go? His eyes furrowed and he held his breath as he waited.

The person jumped, and whirled around, obviously startled. Ryou moved back a little, taken aback by this. The person was still too far away too see anything clearly, and the person wasn't moving, so Ryou decided to try again.

"I- I was wondering.. if… if.." Ryou stopped when the person came closer, and resisted the urge to take a few steps back. The person came close enough that Ryou could see their eyes, and they widened, looking shocked. "Well, if you don't want to-"

"Ryou?" The person asked. Ryou's eyes widened.

"B- Bakura?"

_*To Be Continued…*_


	7. Chapter 7

_I'm SO SORRY for the long wait! I lost the original copy of this chapter (I always write my stories on paper before I type them, just to double check for grammar and spelling errors) , and I didn't want to continue until I found the original copy. I found it just today, and again, I worked really hard to get it up ASAP. So, I hope the wait was worth it. :D  
Enjoy!_

"B- Bakura?" Ryou called, his voice shaking. It was him- he didn't need Bakura to reply, even though Bakura decided to stay silent anyhow. Silence engulfed them for a long time.

Bakura was _not_ expecting this. How could he be here? Unless… unless he was a spirit himself, and the ring called his spirit back here. Bakura almost choked at the thought. Ryou _wouldn't_… But, that was just it. He would kill himself, and apparently he did. However, the thing that hit him the most was the fact that it was because of Bakura himself, and he knew it. How many times had Ryou contemplated suicide because of Bakura? So many, Bakura couldn't bring himself to think about it for too long. But this time, Bakura pushed him over the edge. He had to hold himself back from clutching his chest in pain. He didn't know what to say or do at this point; He had never been forced to deal with these emotions before. He was so weak for it, but he couldn't help it now.

Ryou just stared at Bakura as realization lit his face, then he slumped, looking like he had aged by quite a bit. He didn't understand. By the look on Bakura's face, he'd realized that Ryou had committed suicide, but the question 'why did he care?' still remained. Still, Bakura had that pathetic look on his face. After a while of this, Ryou bristled.

"You going to say something, or just stand there like a-"

"I'm sorry." Bakura's voice cracked. It _cracked_. This was enough to silence Ryou. His mind went blank, and he just… stopped.

"But… why?" The words fell from Ryou's mouth, the roles switching and Ryou being the pathetic one. "You just… you can't-" He stopped himself as he realized that tears were threatening to well over in his eyes. The last thing he wanted to do now was shed another tear for this man.

Bakura's mind was rebelling against him now- trying to quarantine his heart. He took several breaths and swallowed. He had to open up. He owed Ryou _that_ much… didn't he? His mind was yelling at him, trying to pull his defenses up, while his heart was desperately trying to reach out to Ryou. He swallowed one last time, and took a breath, bracing himself.

"Because, Ryou… I… I…" Bakura cleared his throat as it all tightened up and tried to speak again, but abruptly stopped, his eyes widening a little bit. He became transparent looking, and was sucked into the pool behind him. Ryou gasped and rushed forward, looking into the pool.

In front of Bakura, he saw a startled Marik and what looked like his henchmen.

"What are you doing out here? I didn't summon you!" Marik shrieked, glaring daggers into Bakura. Ryou didn't understand either. How was Ryou able to be transported back to the ring after he was brought back to life? Unless… then, everything clicked. No matter how many times he tried to get rid of the ring before, it always came back to him! So when he was brought back, maybe the ring made his spirit come to it instead of… well, anywhere else.

Ryou turned his attention back to the pool, worried about Bakura now.

"Why the hell do you care?" Bakura snapped at Marik, ready to snap Marik's neck.

"Since you aren't transparent, it means that there's someone else now inside the Millennium Ring, which means that the ownership has changed, or maybe it never did… even so, I grow tired of you two and your petty games when I am so close to accomplishing collecting all of the Millennium items. So, my old friend, it's time for you to die." At his words, two of his men came at Bakura, who was tensed and ready to kill. Bakura ignored them however, and instead went straight for Marik.

The men blocked him though, so Bakura blocked one's punch, then quickly lowered himself and did a sweep with his leg underneath them and knocked them off their feet. He waited the few seconds it took for them to sit up, and grabbed ahold of their heads, smacking them together so hard that he swore their heads caved in a little.

After he was sure they wouldn't be getting up for a while (noting that they had serious blood coming out of their heads and ears) Bakura went for Marik's throat, but was thrown to the ground by a blow to the side of the head, delivered by Marik's rod. The sharp side of the rod had cut into Bakura's temple, tearing the flesh and making it bleed. He hissed, his fist flying up to try and hold the blood in his head. Bakura cursed as he got up, trying to ignore the excruciating pain in his temple.

He tried to grab Marik again, but again, Marik was too fast, and swung at Bakura's abdomen, slicing deeply into the skin there. Bakura cried out as pain tore through his body, as it was nearly enough to drop him.

Inside the Millennium Ring, Ryou was panicking, trying to find a way to help. Then an idea formed in his head. With determination in his eyes, he vanished from the Millennium Ring and reappeared in his world in ghost like form behind Marik.

He quickly snatched the Ring and jumped back as Marik whirled around. Marik was about to storm toward Ryou when he held it up in the air.

"I- if you come near me I'll… I'll break it!" He screamed shakily, backing up. Marik laughed at the cowering Ryou.

"You really think you can?" He continued to laugh as he advanced on Ryou.

"Ryou… you idiot!" Bakura growled, trying to stand. As those words came out of Bakura's mouth, Marik reached Ryou, and he abruptly kneed Ryou in the stomach and punched him in the face. The force of it all knocked him back and to the side, Ryou toppling over. The ring was knocked out of his hands, and it bounced away. Blood dribbled out of Ryou's mouth.

"Ryou!" Bakura snarled, forcing himself to his feet. Marik raised his Rod, ready to kill Ryou. Bakura had to force his legs to move toward Marik, the pain wanting to override everything else. Right as dark light began to shine from the eye of Horus on the rod, Bakura charged him, knocking him to the side and ripping the rod from him. He vaguely noted that Marik was knocked toward the ring, but he didn't care. For the first time in ages, he had a strong urge to protect someone, and like it or not, Bakura had feelings for the man laying before him. Ryou had died, because of him, and he wasn't going the same mistake twice.

Bakura shot over to Ryou and gently touched his face before scooping him up in his arms. Bakura was tired of running away, but he wasn't so tired of it that he was willing to risk Ryou's life.

Marik jumped up, ring in hand. Blood was running down his angered face as he swiped at it.

"Bakura! Come to me!" Marik shouted at the duo who was trying to escape. Bakura panicked and stopped, lowering the half- conscious Ryou closer to the floor for minimum impact. Bakura waited for the blow that was sure to come, but nothing happened. He felt a slight tingly feeling, as if he were being freed from chains, and whirled around to look at Marik. 'Could it be…?' He thought.

Sure enough, Marik's body was disappearing into the ring. Bakura was startled as he looked down at the rod that now rested in his hands. The items had changed owners. 'So that means…'

Bakura glared at the faded form of Marik as he tried to figure out what had happened. He gently set Ryou down, and Ryou sat up, groaning.

"The tables have surely turned, Marik." As the words came out of Bakura's mouth, realization dawned on Marik's face. He was going to die.

"B-Bakura… we can talk this out…"

"No. You might as well stop right there, Marik. None of your serpentine words will faze me; it will just drive me to make this painful." Without saying another word, Bakura raised the rod, and with a flash of dark magic, Marik dropped to the floor. His eyes faded, and soon he was completely lifeless. Bakura turned from the sight and focused on Ryou. He went and kneeled next to his grimacing other half.

Quickly, he glanced over at the two henchmen, who much to his surprise were still not moving. He shuddered at the thought that he might've killed them, but his thought was interrupted by Ryou's small voice.

"Bakura… I'm sorry…" Ryou whispered, much to Bakura's surprise.

"Shh." Bakura shushed softly. "It's not your fault." He continued, more to himself than to Ryou. It didn't make him feel better in the least, because he knew it wasn't true. For himself at least- Ryou wasn't to blame.

He bent down and slowly picked Ryou up again, starting for the exit of the place. He vaguely felt all the pain of the wounds he had gotten, but all of it was in the back of his mind now. His eyes would stray to the boy in his arms, feeling a protective emotion grab him in a chokehold whenever he did. He was trying his hardest to hold back these emotions, but he found he just couldn't. This boy had run him ragged as far as emotions go, and he'd found it harder and harder to repel them, the longer he went on. He sighed as he tore his gaze away from Ryou, his heart sagging.

God, he wanted a drink- something to take his mind off of all this crap he was feeling.

Bakura walked through the tunnels- neither of them saying a word- until he saw light, and headed for it. As he walked into the light he squinted, adjusting to the brightness. Even though the sun hurt his eyes, he found himself to be very relieved and proud that he had gotten past his stalker and was able to be rid of him.

Ryou looked up at Bakura squinting- scowling even- at the sun and it almost made Ryou smile. He _would_ be aggravated at such a trivial thing as the sun even though they'd survived what seemed to be hell to both of them. But Bakura's facial features softening stopped Ryou's smile, and the fact that reality hit him. Where were they going to go? He certainly didn't know the way out of here…

A sharp pain abruptly tore through Bakura's side, and he stumbled to the side of the cave, nearly dropping Ryou in the process. This effectively stopped any remaining thoughts they were having.

"Bakura!" Ryou shouted, now trying to straighten up and get down from Bakura's arms to help his other half. With a pained grunt, he set Ryou down and put his now freed hands over his wounds. "I'm…" Ryou tried to continue.

"Don't. Just leave it b- or…" Bakura sighed. "Let's get out of here. We'll talk once I feel we're safe." He explained, gingerly touching Ryou's shoulder- just for a second- before he let his arm fall to his side. Bakura slid his gaze from Ryou's and slowly exited the cave.

Ryou just watched after him, dumbfounded. This man… really knew how to send Ryou on an emotional roller coaster. But before… he supposed he understood why Bakura left him like that- why he acted that way before Ryou had killed himself. He let loose an exaggerated sigh, and realized that Bakura had stopped, and was now looking at him with concern etched on his face. When Ryou's gaze met his, Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"I… I'm coming…" came Ryou's almost solemn voice. A flash of pain flew across Bakura's face before it cleared, and he nodded, turning back around and continuing walking.

Ryou followed and as he did, he worried. What did this mean for them? Were they okay? He glanced up at Bakura's figure- his back facing Ryou. He didn't turn, didn't say anything.

Inside, Bakura was screaming at himself. He wanted the boy behind him- but it was so hard to let himself feel these emotions- he was beating himself up for it, and felt horrible.

He shook the thoughts from his head. He needed to focus. The main priority wasn't his feelings right now. It was finding a way home.

_To Be Continued!  
This is what I believe will be the second to last chapter. I'm not entirely sure yet, but I'll try to update as soon as I can AND be more organized! __  
With school and everything, it will be a little bit of a wait, but bear with me ok? ^^'  
Please REVIEW! Thank you ^^_


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